BJ Penn: The Prodigy spent 2007-2009 destroying all the top talent in the UFC’s lightweight division, then looked completely uninspired in two consecutive fights against Frankie Edgar. Either Penn has fallen off his game dramatically or Edgar is just a terrible style matchup for him — and we won’t really know the answer until Penn’s next fight. What’s obvious is that lightweight has been Penn’s most effective weight class in general, and going back up to 170 would be a terrible idea, especially while Georges St. Pierre still rules the roost. The UFC should give Penn a rebound fight against a name opponent who’s a little further down the ladder, but will test BJ’s desire to fight. That’s right, folks, it’s time for BJ Penn vs. Takanori Gomi II. Gomi is born-again after starching Tyson Griffin; add in Gomi’s history with Penn, and you have a co-headliner that any pay-per-view card would be lucky to have.

Demian Maia: Over his last four fights, Maia has collected two losses and two decision victories. And so, a famous question comes to mind: "Where’s your jiu-jitsu now, playboy?" Demian handled replacement opponent Mario Miranda on Saturday, but anything less than a submission finish feels like a disappointment, considering how fearsome he was during his first five appearances in the Octagon. Give him the Alan Belcher fight he was originally scheduled for; Maia’s latest win certainly doesn’t qualify him for anything more than that. Of course, if Belcher’s detached-retina puts him out for an extended period of time (or retires him, God forbid), if would be great to see Maia against our man Gerald Harris — who was able to finish Miranda in the first round of their fight at UFC Fight Night 21.

Kenny Florian: Maybe Ken-Flo does choke in big fights. He certainly wasn’t able to pull the trigger against Gray Maynard, and that doesn’t bode well for his chances of ever holding the lightweight title. In a perfect world, his next fight would be against surging contender George Sotiropoulos, who deserves a chance to prove himself against the UFC’s top dogs, just as Florian deserves a chance to prove that he’s still one of the best 155′ers around.

Nate Diaz: Once again, Nate Diaz puts in a masterful performance at welterweight, and we’re starting to wonder if he could become an actual threat in the division. The first name that comes to mind for his next opponent is Mike Swick, who’s a comfortable step up from Davis even though he’s coming off two losses against Dan Hardy and Paulo Thiago. But I think it’s time for Nate to be tested against a welterweight opponent who’s actually on a win streak, which is why I’d slot him against Johny Hendricks (9-0, 4-0 UFC), who just smashed Charlie Brenneman during the UFC 117 prelims. Hendricks has been flying under the radar lately, but after racking up his fourth straight win in the Octagon, he’ll likely be rewarded with a higher-profile match.

Marcus Davis: It made sense before and it makes sense now — Marcus Davis vs. Phil Baroni. Winner saves their job, loser shows up in the next season of Bellator.

Got any other UFC 118-related matchmaking ideas? Let us know in the comments section…

Cagepotato Comments

Showing 1-25 of comments

BJ Penn - welcome to Rich Franklin territory. You don't deserve a fight with the champion, and nobody wants to see it. So you won't be given many of the top contenders because they don't want you knocking them out of contention. Have fun in LW purgatory!

Oh, and above I'm pretty sure the Pitbull he was talking about was Ebenezer "The Pitbull" Fortes Braga. It only makes sense.

Jersey Shua- August 31, 2010 at 7:39 am

How Maia vs. Leben? If there's anyone that can make a fight exciting it's Chris Leben.

@Bobert O'Reilly - wtf Kimbo is a HW and Lytle is 170 you dumb son of a bitch, come on!!!

LargeMidget- August 30, 2010 at 10:55 pm

Good article, keep em coming.

Joe Lauzon vs. Kurt Pellegrino - Both are 4-2 in their last 6 fights. Bound to be an exciting clash of two well rounded scrappy guys.

Florian should fight the winner of Sherk/Dunham. If Dunham wins then he's basically 1 fight away from a contender shot, beating Florian is the win he needs to get into the top 8 (granted he beats sherk first). If Sherk wins then who wouldn't want to see that rematch? It would be cool to see how Kenny deals with a wrestler when the pressure isn't on.

Turd Furgeson- August 30, 2010 at 10:08 pm

Diaz v. Amir Sodallah

Turd Furgeson- August 30, 2010 at 10:04 pm

Penn v. Caol Uno again.

Ballkick- August 30, 2010 at 8:32 pm

CDCR guard with a tazer & Billy-club Vs War Machine in a 6'X8' cell.........make it happen Dana.....I'll pay the fucking rip-off price of $60.00 for that shit.
I'll concider it pay-back for Silva/Maia.
Fuck if you'll pay Toney a cool Mill for that pathetic shit,...why not?

I'm boycotting bj from now on. He's burned me too many times with boring fights on his ppv cards.

Unless there are other top fights on the same card as him, no way jose.

herb137- August 30, 2010 at 7:17 pm

CHUCK VS RANDY 4!!!!!!!!!

herb137- August 30, 2010 at 7:10 pm

SHAQ VS HONG MAN CHOI

just some dong- August 30, 2010 at 6:59 pm

Couture vs. Franklin... me likey.

swc52583- August 30, 2010 at 6:46 pm

I like most of the suggestions...although Swick vs Diaz may not be an option, Swick may be coming back at 85 so we'd have to see there, but Penn vs Gomi would be awesome, I kinda like the idea of Maia vs Gerald Harris too, and I think Diaz vs Alves would be awesome, assuming Dolce can get Alves to make weight if not give him the winner of Condit vs Hardy if you want him to take a step up in competition if Swick comes in at 85

thebassmaster- August 30, 2010 at 5:31 pm

BJ Penn vs. Gomi should definitely happen. I'd even like to see him fight the winner of Sherk/Dunham.

I've wanted to see Jones/Couture for a while now, and I'm still hoping it will happen, but I'd also love to see Couture take the winner of Rampage/Machida

Demian Maia should maybe fight the winner of Marquardt/Palhares if Belcher is out much longer, or the winner of Bisping/Akiyama

Florian/Sotiropolous makes sense right now

Nate Diaz, if he fights at 170, should take a fight against the loser of Hardy/Condit

Davis, to keep his job needs a crowd pleaser win. Baroni seems like a good option.

Miles- August 30, 2010 at 5:30 pm

Diaz vs Gomi

Bob Reilly- August 30, 2010 at 5:20 pm

Yeah I agree with Brownjhole, Lytle Vs Kimbo! (see what I did there, twice for one article)

exect4500- August 30, 2010 at 4:08 pm

I think Diaz V Alves would make a lot of sense.

fatbellyfrank- August 30, 2010 at 4:01 pm

yeah Aussie George v Florian, Boner you sneaky lil troller you LOL

noaschmitz- August 30, 2010 at 3:51 pm

If BJ wants to go up to 170, a rubber match with Matt Hughes would be a big time fight but Gomi is the best choice right now.

Demian Maia needs a rematch with Marquardt so we can see his patented punch in the face early stoppage backflip again.

Nate Diaz would be a great match up for Diego and that would be an awesome main event for a Fight Night or Ultimate Fighter Finale.

Florian vs. Griffin or Snuffalugus either way will let you know where Florian is at this stage of his career.

If Toney won he wanted Lesnar, why not give Couture number two contender status behind JDS

@ghostboner, like the arlovski reference, cracked me up

brownjhole- August 30, 2010 at 3:48 pm

Lights Out vs Kimbo. GIVE THEM BOTH ONE MORE PAYDAY

Mr_Misanthropy- August 30, 2010 at 3:38 pm

@ Tube Of Daath

You beat me to it, you rascal.

bcpjkell- August 30, 2010 at 3:35 pm

Nate Diaz vs. Chris Lytle or Matt Hughes. A Lytle fight would be a great slugfest, and both are more than capable of some slick grappling. A Hughes fight would be a fight against a powerful wrestler, who Diaz has historically had trouble with, but he has a considerable reach advantage.

Demian Maia vs. winner of Rousimar Palhares/Nate Marquardt. It's the only top tier fight at middleweight without having to wait for Belfort-Okami or Silva-Sonnen 2.

Kenny Florian vs. Tyson Griffin. Kenny needs to prove he can beat a wrestler, and Griffin fits the bill perfectly.

Completely agree with your choices for Penn, Couture, and Davis.

And I stopped by your booth at the fan expo. Thanks again for the free bottle opener.

Get Off Me- August 30, 2010 at 3:35 pm

I'm kinda feelin' Lauzon v. Florian right now...
Like the Couture thoughts in the article and I'll take Tito v. Couture providing Fucko beats the hammer.

Nealio- August 30, 2010 at 3:33 pm

Feed Nate "Bongwater" Diaz to Thiago Alves... PLEASE !!!

steampunk22- August 30, 2010 at 3:26 pm

Baha, Pitbull. Hurray for internet misunderstandings!

for the love of mma- August 30, 2010 at 3:25 pm

Thiago Silva should be healed up soon and Couture could definitly make for a good fight!!!

2DaDeath- August 30, 2010 at 3:17 pm

LOL @ Ghostboner!

Craigger: You're an idiot.

Art Gibs: Seriously? I thought you'd be able to detect sarcasm by now...

glassjawsh- August 30, 2010 at 2:55 pm

penn and gomi shouldn't fight, the only logical fight for either of them is George Sotiropolous (which of course is a problem)

swear to God (and no one is with me on this) I'd love to see randy fight a high level wrestle at 205, either Jason Brilz or the winner of the tito/hamill fight

i have a sneaking suspicious that after Diego Sanchez loses ugly for the 3rd fight in a row in october that DW sits him down and basically says "fight kenny florian at 155 or we're cutting you" except with more "mother fuck"s sprinkled in

Marcus Davis v Phil Baroni would be the TITS (its even got a ready made New York vs Boston angle)...... but would probably have to be at a catchweight

TheHuytonHandGrenade- August 30, 2010 at 2:52 pm

B.J against Gomi sounds good Give Diaz John Fitch make the guy fight for once Fitch that is

Art Gibs- August 30, 2010 at 2:52 pm

I think people are misinterpreting Pit Bull to mean Arlovski. Pit Bull is a reference to Thiago Alves.

Or maybe people were just joking. Sometimes it's hard to tell if people on the Internet are stupid or just acting that way.

Craigger12- August 30, 2010 at 2:51 pm

@ ghostboner

Pretty sure superflat was talkin' about another pit bull. Seriously, did you think he was saying that arlovski should drop to welterweight... or diaz should make the move to heavyweight?

Get real dude!

pixieplata- August 30, 2010 at 2:42 pm

I would like to see Demian Mia drop to 170 where I think he should fight Nate Diaz. Mia needs to find himself in an exciting fight and Diaz is always busy and his fights are always exciting. As far as the pit bull vs Diaz goes do we really need to list the reasons why not? Diaz and Swick would be fun though.

fACE7biter- August 30, 2010 at 2:41 pm

George Sots next fight needs to be a #1 contender fight. The guy is on a six fight streak. he should go up against someone else on a win streak to determine who's next in line. I think if Evan Dunham can get past Sean Sherk, he should fight George with the winner getting the next shot.

And Penn Vs. Gomi II must happen.

ihateemo- August 30, 2010 at 2:40 pm

I like the idea of Davis/Baroni, but I'm pretty sure Tha Best EVA is going back up to middleweight.

@superflap - Arlovski needs to get in the W column before the UFC takes him back to fight Nate Diaz. Get real dude.

Sotiropopulououpulopopupulous against Florian, absolutely. And how about that fucking Nate Diaz? MArcus' face was smashed after that fight, despite the fact that Nate looks like he learned to punch from Bobby Lashley. Well, whatever. Give that pothead a challenge. I would like to see him against Swick, or Hendricks, or Paulo Thiago.

superflat- August 30, 2010 at 2:21 pm

Diaz has enough ring experience that I'd put him against a bigger name -- say The Pit Bull. I mean, why not?